The Penguins’ decline continued last night at the Bell Center in Montreal. The Canadiens made the most of black-and-gold blunders, shutting out the locals 4-0 after a 31-save shutout performance from rookie Jacob Fowler to extend our losing streak to eight games (0-4-4).
Add terrible puck management and decision making to our ever-growing list of woes. Perhaps in an effort to be offensive, we committed a whopping 19 giveaways, 11 of which came in the first 20 minutes, according to NHL.com. Thirteen by the attackers and another half dozen by the defense. In the process, leaving goalkeeper Stuart Skinner virtually awash in a sea of odd-man breaks and scoring chances against.
Our special teams, a strength until recently, were anything but. The power play was 0-for-3 and coughed up a second period briefly Josh Anderson for good measure. The penalty set up a first-period goal for Colossal Juraj Slavkovsky on the Habs’ only chance.
In a virtual replay of their loss to the Sens on Thursday night, the Pens did manage to keep the game going for the final twenty minutes, right down to the only goal of the period (an empty-netter for Anderson).
Puckpourri
The Pens had the best of the game if the stats are to be believed, including a 69-50 edge in shot attempts, a 31-21 edge in shots on goal and a 60.9 skill percentage in the faceoff circle. However, they need to play smarter and not just harder.
I’ve mentioned this before. But without Blake Lizotteour punitive murder has collapsed like an unfortified mine shaft. Don’t quote me on this, but I believe our PK was fourth in the league when he went on IR. Now he’s somewhere in the middle of the pack.
Whatever our myriad problems last night, Skinner wasn’t one of them. Yeah, Big Stu’s numbers weren’t pretty (17 saves on 20 shots, .850 save percentage). But two of the Habs’ goals came on breakaways, the other on power plays.
He gave up ten scoring opportunities in the first period, and ten more in the second.
Coach And Muse shuffled the deck in an attempt to end the strand. He replaced Danton Heinen of Kevin Hayes on the fourth line and bumped Tommy Novak back to the top line. Rickard Rakell centered the second line in front Justin Brazeau And Anthony Mantha. According to him, the unit had excellent statistics (90.91 Corsi, 89.92 xGF%) Natural statistical trickbut like the rest of the team, couldn’t finish.
Ville Koivunen (two shots on target) rejoined the “Kid Line”. Ben Kindel And Rutger McGroarty. In my defense, Connor Clifton (a game-high six hits) combined with Ryan Shea while newcomer Stu-ear next to slot Kris Letang. Jack St Ivany was an odd one out.
Keeping up with Jones
Speaking of our defense, I wonder how much longer Caleb Jones will be out? He was expected to miss eight weeks when he was placed on IR on October 25 with a lower-body injury.
Considered a journeyman, I thought Jones did an enjoyable (and perhaps underappreciated) job by Harrison Brunicke partner early on. In particular, the duo provided speed and puck movement from the back, which helped fuel our connected north-south play. Elements are decreasing during our recent slip.
Musing about Dan
I was exchanging texts with a PP colleague Caleb DiNatale during the game, as we often do when I brought up the next question.
“At what point do we consider replacing Muse?”
Frankly, a lot of what happens seems out of his control. The seemingly endless series of injuries to key personnel, for example. What’s more, for most other teams, it seems like the pins need to be relatively intact to be successful. Especially considering the way the club collapsed without Lizotte Evgeni Malkin.
There is also no doubt that the players are squeezing and gripping their sticks too tightly as our descent intensifies. Not something a coach can easily solve.
While you certainly can’t blame Dan for being a little deer in the headlights at this stage, I can’t help but feel like he might be in way over his head.
There also doesn’t seem to be much going on in player development with the kids, which should be one of his strengths. Yes, Kindel was a real bright spot and McGroarty has shown flashes. But Koivunen appears to have stalled and Brunicke quickly deteriorated after a promising start.
Again, this doesn’t all fall on Muse. In some ways, though, it’s starting to feel like a continuation of the Mike Sullivan era, with an over-reliance on veterans like Hayes and Heinen, at the expense of promoting kids like Tristan Broz And Avery Hayes. Choices that may be driven by the front office and not by Muse.
While hindsight is 20/20, achieving that 8-2-2 start may have been the worst thing to happen to the team and our rookie coach when it comes to setting expectations too high. Expectations that may not be justified given the talent level.
Still, the situation overall feels chaotic and out of control.
Let’s say Kyle Dubas gives his new acquisition a quick bite (unlikely in my opinion, especially during the holidays). Who would replace him?
Both Caleb and I agreed that the current Pens Assistant Todd Nelson could be a good choice, at least on an interim basis. Nelson was once considered the top head coaching talent. In addition to his extensive experience as an NHL assistant with Atlanta, Edmonton and Dallas, he has won three Calder Cups as a head coach in the AHL.
Nelson has stated that he was not pursuing a head coaching job in the NHL. But perhaps he would agree to an interim assignment.
Anyway, food for thought.
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